Mission Venture Ministries

Jesus said: Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. (John 16:7) 

In verses 16:7-15, the apostle John writes how the Holy Spirit would enable the apostles to witness for Jesus and justify His supernatural credentials before the world (John 15:26-27). They would also have an Advocate at their side through persecution since the Spirit would not only be their Defender but enable them to carry through their message. 

The following verses reveal the threefold role of the Holy Spirit: 

• He would indictthose who reject Christ as Savior
• He would convince people of the standard for acceptance before God
• He would condemn Satan’s belief system  

And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: The three things that the Spirit would do when He came revolves around conviction. Conviction is a prelude to salvation. 

“Convict” means to expose facts or convince of the truth. It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to expose the lost to the gospel. It takes more than proclaiming the gospel to come to Christ; it requires supernatural action. 

The Holy Spirit awakens the conscience to believe what is right but also to prove people guilty of violating God’s norms and standards. The Greek word for “convict” implies more than rebuke; it also includes the idea of building a case for what is true. Thus, the idea of “convict” means the Spirit both personally convinces the world of its guilt and calls them to embrace Jesus as Savior. 

The first area that the Holy Spirit convicts is “sin” (singular). The Holy Spirit will convict of one sin, the sin of not believing that Jesus is the Savior (John 3:18). 

And verses 9 and 10 continue to reveal the particular implications of the words “sin,” “righteousness,” and “judgment.” The first is that people do not believe in Jesus. 

The Spirit will convict the person of sin, meaning unbelief (John 3:18). It does not refer to sins in general but of the single sin of rejection of Christ as Savior. Jesus had just spoken of the guilt of those who reject His message (John 15:22, 24). This verse asserts that people are guilty because they refuse to believe in Jesus and His message. The Holy Spirit will personally witness about this (John 15:26). 

The world in general is willfully ignorant of its need to believe Jesus. Because of this, it takes the  supernatural ministry of the Holy Spirit to bring them to the point of belief in Jesus as their Savior. 

Please note that unbelief in Jesus is the singular sin that casts a person into a Christless eternity. People do not come to God strictly from their own initiative; God draws them to Himself (John 6:44). He does this by the convicting work of the Spirit. The sin of unbelief is the singular or supreme sin that condemns a person to a Christless eternity. The Spirit’s conviction of the world is not of sin in general but of the special sin of rejection of Jesus as Savior. We accept Him by believing that He saves us from all sin. 

The benchmark of believing the gospel is to discern God in Christ. The only sin that can put a person outside fellowship with God is unbelief or rejection of Jesus as their personal Savior. Belief is the only requirement for salvation. 

The Holy Spirit convicts the world in two ways: 

1. He secures a verdict of “guilty” by producing definite evidence of that guilt and shows there is no excuse for not believing.
2. He brings them to a point of decision of either negative or positive decision toward the gospel message.

 The second area by which the Holy Spirit convicts the world is “righteousness.” 

Righteousness is the standard for acceptance into heaven is God’s very own righteousness, which is absolute or perfect righteousness. If God were to receive anyone into His presence with even a fleeting sin, He would compromise His own character. He would be inconsistent with Himself. 

Therefore, God’s righteousness is the standard for going to heaven. This is the argument of Romans 3 through chapter 5. When people attempt to please God by their own righteousness, they fail to accept the central  reason Jesus came; to pay for sin and to declare the person who believes this as righteous, as God is righteous. By this God maintains consistency with His own character. He is “the just, and justifier of them which have faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26). 

By Jesus presenting His righteousness to the Father, He reversed man’s failure to measure up to God’s righteousness and vindicated those who go to heaven based on His righteousness (Romans 10:3; Philippians 3:6-9; Titus 3:5). 

The resurrection and ascension vindicated the righteousness of Christ. The Father justly welcomed Him back into His presence. The Father did not compromise His righteousness by receiving the One who bore the sins of the world. This was the Father’s justification of Jesus’ work on earth. The resurrection and ascension validated His offer of salvation to the world from the Father’s perspective. The ascension of Christ declared that righteousness was available to anyone who believes in Jesus. 

It is the Spirit’s role to convince the world that Jesus met all the demands of God’s absolute righteousness. He revealed that point after the crucifixion of Jesus paid for the sins of the world. 

The Father accepted the righteousness of Christ as the basis for anyone who believes in Him to enter heaven. Since God is an absolute being and not finite, He can only accept perfect righteousness into His presence. Jesus established our righteousness and declared those who believe in Him to be as righteous as He is righteous. 

It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to convince the world of God’s standard for entering heaven – the righteousness of Christ. The Spirit would point to Christ as the righteous one (Acts 3:14; 7:52; 1 John 2:1; 1 Peter 3:18). 

The Jews of Jesus’ day were “ignorant of God’s righteousness” (Romans 10:3). God’s absolute righteous is a completely different category than man’s relative righteousness. Jesus met all the demands of God’s perfect righteousness. 

Righteousness apart from believing what Jesus did to pay for sin is completely inadequate. No one can be declared righteous apart from God declaring him that way. Only the Holy Spirit can bring people to understand that they cannot become right with God other than believing that Jesus paid the penalty for their sins. 

The third dynamic whereby the Holy Spirit deals with the world is “judgment.” The Spirit convicts the world of its liability of being in league with the one who has a different belief system than God. 

Jesus would defeat the devil on the cross in a few hours (John 12:31; Hebrews 2:14). The word “judged” indicates that Satan stands judged in God’s court because of the cross (1 John 3:8). Therefore, the evil one and those who reject Jesus stand under God’s judgment. They are already judged (John 3:18; 12:31; Hebrews 2:14). The world needs to do nothing to be condemned; it is judged already (John 3:36). We need to understand that both the world and its ruler already stand condemned before God. 

The ruler or prince of this world is in the business of making people spiritually blind (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) and the world in general has come to believe the lies of Satan about Jesus. This is an issue of false judgment that rests on wrong assumptions about truth. 

The Holy Spirit’s judgment is not merely on the world but on Satan himself. Satan and those who follow him stand condemned forever and have no status with God. 

As we continue, we read that the apostles still needed much more revelation of truth but were not quite ready to accept everything that Jesus had to say about their immediate future. 

However, even though the apostles did not have the capacity to receive more revelation at this time, they would have that capacity when the Holy Spirit came to permanently indwell the believers on the day of Pentecost. 

When the Spirit of truth comes indicates that the Spirit is a person. The Holy Spirit would convey truth and divine revelation of the New Testament to the apostles; He would also give illumination to believers in their understanding of Scripture once He came on the day of Pentecost and thereafter. 

God would in a few weeks launch the church and set aside Israel as His way of dealing with the world (Hebrews 1:1-2). There would be new revealed truth found in the New Testament that had not been revealed in the Old Testament (Ephesians 3:2-5). 

We need to understand that the Holy Spirit does not speak on His own initiative. Everything that He communicates comes from the Trinity. The role of the Holy Spirit as a guide is not independent of Jesus’ authority (John 14:16; 15:26). The Spirit reveals only what He hears from the Father. We need to understand that Persons of the Trinity are one in their unity and purpose, but also independent of performing their designated task. They are one being, one essence, but different persons. 

Without direction from the Holy Spirit, the apostles would be totally confused about the events coming within hours. The Spirit would complete the message of Jesus when He launched the church and revealed the New Testament. 

Without divine guidance believers are left to incomprehensible options about truth. The Holy Spirit would complete the revelation that began with Jesus during the church age (John 14:26). Eventually He would complete the canon of Scripture by the writing of the New Testament. The Spirit would both “speak” and “tell” the apostles what was needed (2 Peter 3:15). 

The apostles would finally see clearly what the death of our Lord meant. The Spirit would especially glorify Jesus when He was crucified and resurrected in just a few hours. There would be insights for Jesus’ followers that no one knew during His life on earth since the Holy Spirit would reveal everything that the apostles needed to know about Jesus; He would make it plain to them. They would understand the implications of His work on the cross. This would especially be seen when the Spirit revealed the epistles to the apostles. 

It is the mission of the Holy Spirit to make those truths real to the hearer. Jesus Christ is the center of revelation; it points to Him and reaches its climax in Him (Hebrews 1:1-4). 

Please understand that those who deliver the message cannot convict people of their need for Jesus; that is strictly the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Man can make no move toward God without the Spirit’s initiative to do so. No one can become aware of his or her eternal need without the Spirit’s work. The first and foremost responsibility is upon God in that matter. It requires the supernatural ministry of the Holy Spirit to do that. The human will, independent from God’s will, is powerless, incapable, inadequate, and unable on its own terms to have faith in Jesus. It is important to recognize the impotence of the human will without the work of God.

The Trinity collaborates in the doctrine of revelation. What the Father has, the Son has (John 17:10). The Holy Spirit would reveal both things from the Father and the Son and the New Testament would complete the canon of Scripture. Amen!

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